Billy Congreve
|serviceyears= |rank=Major |branch= British Army |commands= |unit=Rifle Brigade |battles= World War I |awards= Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Légion d'honneur (France) |relations=General Sir Walter Norris Congreve VC (father) }} Major William "Billy" La Touche Congreve VC, DSO, MC (12 March 1891 – 20 July 1916) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Life and career He was at school at Summer Fields School, Oxford and then at Eton, leaving in 1907.Eton College - Rolls of Honour On 1 June 1916 he married Pamela Cynthia Maude, the daughter of actors Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery.Congreve at The Peerage.com, accessed 8 June 2011 Congreve was 25 years old, and a Major in The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. During the period 6 July to 20 July 1916 at Longueval, France, Major Congreve constantly inspired those round him by numerous acts of gallantry. As Brigade Major he not only conducted battalions up to their positions but when the Brigade headquarters was heavily shelled he went out with the medical officer to remove the wounded to places of safety, although he himself was suffering from gas and other shell effects. He went out again on a subsequent occasion tending the wounded under heavy shell fire. Finally, on returning to the front line to ascertain the position after an unsuccessful attack, he was shot and died instantly. He was the son of General Sir Walter Norris Congreve, also a Victoria Cross awardee - they are one of only three father and son pairings to win a VC. His younger brother, Geoffrey, first of the Congreve baronets of Congreve, Staffordshire, was a distinguished sailor, awarded the DSO for a raid on Norway and killed in 1941 during a raid on the French coast. His widow bore a posthumous daughter, Mary Gloria Congreve, born 21 March 1917.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 1940 edn: Congreve Pamela Congreve later remarried, to Brigadier the Hon. William Fraser, in 1919. William Congreve's grave is at Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension, France, 9 miles east of Amiens, Plot I, Row F, Grave 35. There is also a memorial to him in the form of a plaque in Corbie church, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.CWGC entry His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Royal Green Jackets Museum, Winchester, England. References * Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) * The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) * VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994) * No Time to Spare? A History of Summer Fields War Dead(Chris Sparrow, 2006) External links * William la Touche Congerve VC., DSO., M.C. (detailed biography) * Find-A-Grave profile for William La Touche Congreve Category:1891 births Category:1916 deaths Category:People from Cheshire West and Chester (district) Category:Rifle Brigade officers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:British Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:People educated at Summer Fields School Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross